Rotary stalk cutter and shredder



1951 J. 1.. AASLAND ROTARY STALK CUTTER AND SHREDDER Filed Oct. 29, 1948 i atented Nov. 6 1951 jzflsrassrflf V nornitksrriimtourrmt .fiiSHREDDEE' John Li Aaslandi Moline,llli assienbridoilnter-1 national Harivestenfiompany, a EOOIDQEZttiDIlcOf New;Jersey g resins... (o1. 146-4215 'rii s invejntion relats-te a-nevifi ar id improved ediiipinauonrotary stalkcutter' and sl fredder b:

alkflbuttershave-been in eve'rydayuse for ma years;

Th cuttingoperationof-thesaregular rotaryaa I t I t Rbtary' stalk cutters ofth'e -type ha ng hladesmounted on a rotor and adapted i,

cuttrs makes astraight-through cut rands'leavem the short length of stalk fully intactih Ir'r; -stalk cuttingdevices employed on corn'fi pickers 5: the

clean cutting ofshort lengthsfails. to provide;

necessary corn borer destruction;

satisfactory' for corn borer: control;

The combination .ofcutting and shredding the stalk produces a moreuhiform product whether for green stalks as ensilage or dry, corn for various purposes as plowing under, for -.fodder.or. bedding or for commercial use. I

It is a principal object of this'ir'iverition to pro vide a rotary stalk chopper having stalk-shredding means associated therewith to1eifect a shreddingi,

mounted therearound and having stalk shredding means asociated with each of the blades and adapted to cooperate with a stationary shear blade. I

A still further important object of this invention is to supply a stalk cutting blade having a plurality of stalk shreding means uniformly spaced along the stalk cutting blade.

Other and further important objects of this invention will become apparent from the disclosures in the following specification and accom- V Figislisiazsectional viewtofzthe underside of of the combination cutter and shredding;.;;bladesg as taken'orr the. line A-H l of Fig.1.

is; antop plan; 1viewofthe cutter ibladeas;

viewedzfromgtheiline.5+-5-;of;Fig.3.,

As sho-wn in. the-;;.drawings,f the. reference. numeralzlii indicates 'zgenerallyr. a: shaft for -carrying: a rotary cutter?! l.. The-rotary cutter I! for stalk orrthe like is; provided: with .-radial1 extend arms .l2aat tspacediinteryals arounda; hub portiongl 35-! Thesarm'szare provided -with' laterally bent on turned; ;portions 1 4 plfoviding; a; substantiallyv fiat; enters-surfaces. for"; receiving a: cutting H knife I 5;. Therknife I 5 is anchored-toqthe. portion 1 d-ofthel armi llbyymeans of. a .flatplate l6 .and a bolt-J member. I 1 extending through the: three-elements; namely; the plate,s knife,- and. arm portion M.

The; knife 15- isprovided with a substantially rectangular. elongated, slot l5e havingg its; long side extending in a direction in line -with the knife, edge.- Theiflat p late I6. is provided, with I an angularly; disposed. substantially! rectangular; elopgated slot I This slot extends diagonally of. therectangular: plate and a portion Q thereof 1 lies overc the rectangular. slot. I5 of the, knife.

Raised ribs I 5 and [5 are integral with and .eX-

tend along the back surface of the knife liiland providearchannel likespace for the plate it. A looseninggbplt fl and.. a sliding. of. the.- plate: L6,, in its r-ib. uided path will. eff ec-t aninward f or Y" outward shifting ofthe; knife with. respect to its supporting portion l4. Blade adjustment is thus accomplished in the above manner and when the knife edge is in its desired relationship with respect to its shear plate a nut l8 threadedly attached to the inner end of the bolt l! is drawn up tightly holding the entire assembly in fixed adjusted position with respect to the rotary cutter II. In the device as shown in Fig. 1 there are four such cuttin blades 15 spaced equidistant around the periphery of the rotary cutter II.

A shear plate of stationary cutter bar is shown at l9 mounted on a supporting structure 20 by means of a. bolt or the like 2|. The supporting structure also journally carries the shaft ID. Stalks and particularly corn stalks fed to this rotary cutter will act to shear the stalks into short lengths by reason of the straight knife edge 22 of the blade [5 cooperating with this knife edge 23 of the shear plate l9. The cutting of a corn stalk into short lengths does not control the corn borer. The borer remains alive within the short lengths of the stalk.

It has been found to be essential in the destroying of the corn borer to actually shred or tear apart the corn stalk. Each blade member I5 is provided with forwardly and upwardly extending projections 24 which, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, are spaced at uniform intervals along the length thereof. The projections, as shown in detail in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, are provided with an apex 25 and a, straight knife edge 26 which extends radially outwardly from the center of'the rotor.-

The lower or outer edge 22 is substantially coextensive with an are drawn about the center of the rotor. The projection 24 thus commence at the knife edge 22 of the blade 15., The projection 24 is adapted to cut into and tear open the short length of stalk sheared by the straight edge 22. The rotary cutter of this invention therefore acts to shred or smash the stalk as Well as cut it into short lengths. fairly well kill off all the corn borers.

Fig. 2 best shows the driving means for th shaft ID by means of a pulley 21 having a belt 28 for driving thereof.

In operation, the device is used on a field traversing implement and particularly a corn picker or harvester in which the stalk i fully severed from the ground and the ear snapped therefrom. Ordinarily, the whole stalks are then thrown back onto the field and'without further treatment this procedure infects the land with corn borers and a crop planted on that same field the following year will, as a rule, be considerably destroyed due to .the non-controlling of corn borers. It is applicants purpose to out these stalks up into very short lengths and, in addition, to shred the individual stalk pieces to such a degree that the corn borer hiding or nesting within the stalk is destroyed. The finely cut up stalk acts also as a mulch to better aerate the soil and thus the soil is better conditioned for a succeeding crop to be planted thereon.

Numerous details of construction may be varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles disclosed herein and I therefore do not propose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than as necessitated by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A rotary stalk chopper and shredder comprising a rotor having means thereon -for receiving a plurality of blades, said blades extending in one direction, a shear plate, said blades adapted This dual operation serves to to cooperate with said shear plate in cutting corn stalks, said blades having a regular continuous knife edge on the forward end thereof, and said blades having forwardly and upwardly extending spaced projections commencing at the knife edges of the blades and extending substantially coextensive with, an are drawn about the center of the rotor, said blades and projections adapted to simultaneously shred the stalk upon its being 'shearingly cut.

2. A stalk chopper including a rotor, blades havingcutting edges mounted on said rotor around the periphery thereof and adapted for cooperation with a shear plate, bolt mean arranged and constructed to hold said blades to said rotor,. each of said blades having spaced parallel ribs on the back surface thereof, a flat plate adapted for sliding guided movement on said plate between said ribs; said blade having an elongated slot therein extending in line with the cutting edge of said blade, and said plate having anelongated diagonal slot therein, whereby the bolt means is adapted to pass through the aligned portions of the elongated slots for fastening the blade and plate to. the rotor, and nut means for cooperation with said bolt means to hold said blade in any adjusted position of extension with respect to the rotor as determined by the position of the sliding plate.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 in which said blades have uniformly spaced apart upwardly extending projections.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 in which the upwardly extending projections are equipped with substantially vertically extending knife edges for accomplishing a longitudinal shredding of the stalk along with a transverse cutting thereof as accomplished by the cutting edges of the blades.

JOHN L. AASLAND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Knowles Aug. 23, 1949 

